Hanabi's storybook
by Jumperjacket
Summary: ETPD spin-off. In between missions and gathered around a small girl with a book and a dream only to be drawn into a world parrelel to their own as they unwittingly play out their parts.
1. Chapter 1

This one is one of the more inspired and fun creations I came up with. It's actually a spin-off to my other story, and is sort of based in that world. I originally came up with it through a single song and an ED for EPTD. So those who have read that story will know the characters and what's so ironic about what they do, anyway, let's all get this started.

"Hey what are you doing there Hanabi?" Asked a much older boy, dragging the girl her away from her book. Giving a quick scan of the area she was able to notice that all of her friends had gathered around her, gazing down at the strange book she had lost herself in previously.

"It's a new book, Norugi-niisan." She responded with a smile, gazing into the eyes of the light brown boy in front of her as he sat down. "I just got it today, it's called 'Comsosphrere, I heard there was some type of legend circulating around it."

"A legend?" Questioned the blonde boy next to Norugi, bringing his eyes down to the book before he continued, "What kind of legend?"

"It's very interesting Naruto-kun, do you want me to show you?"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow to the question and after giving a quick glance back to his friends he nodded to her with a smile.

"Okay, first you do this." She said leaning forward the write something in the massive book laid in front of her and then returning her gaze to everyone she opened the book to them.

"And then you do this."

As everyone peered into the pages of the book they suddenly found themselves caught in a large gust of wind, and as suddenly as the wind had kicked up, everyone standing in front of it had been pulled into the pages.

"Now, for the true tale to begin." Hanabi said to herself as she hugged the book to her chest with a smile.

Chapter one: Misfortune.

"Where did it go?" Shouted a man adorned in gleaming golden armor as he ran feverishly through the streets of the city. It had only been six minutes since he was scrambled, but in that short period the beast he was fighting had managed to murder twenty three people before he was able to wound it. Realizing that the knight before it was no easy kill, it had vanished into the city looking for sanctuary.

"Sir Minato!"

Hearing his name called the man turned to the voices of his men, all worn and weary from the night's hunt.

"Any good news?" He asked to the head knight, hoping that the ravenous beast had been captured.

"None sir." Answered a knight with an eye patch covering his left eye. Young though he was he had made his way to the first lieutenant under Minato, "We think it may have found somewhere to hide in one of the houses."

"Not good, we can't risk causing a panic." He said bringing his hand to his chin, "Spread out and look for clues among the city, if it even dropped a speck of blood in town I want you to trace it."

"Yes sir!"

With a powerful salute the knights spread out into town and resumed their search, yet in a house not too far from the golden knight stirred a monster, slowly losing blood as it's tails wailed behind it.

"I can't believe I let a human injure me so. I wasn't even able to find that blasted magician, at this rate I won't be able to avenge him. I lost to a damned human, such irony."

The beast spoke slowly fading in and out of a growling voice and that of a woman. It held tightly onto the wound on its chest as it stared over to the man outside, until it noticed the sounds of foot steps behind it. With a sharp turn, the nine-tailed fox laid eyes on a young boy, no older than nine staring at her with clear blue eyes. The boy had wandered into the house for only one reason; it was his, the house where he and his father stayed together.

"You'll do nicely."

The beast as it rushed toward the boy, never once allowing him the time to scream. As if intuition had kicked in Minato turned to the house, it had only been mere minutes since he had last checked for his son in there, but he wasn't there, surely Naruto hadn't returned without his notice, but something begged him to the house, and upon entering it, he saw the horrid sight, His son was standing in the doorway, holding his head with a sickening laugh as the demon's aura began to overtake him, and with a single flash he rushed for his father and grabbed tightly onto his neck, slamming him into a wall on the far side of town. Minato slowly lifted himself from the rubble of the broken wall, if it weren't for his armor he would have taken on more damage than he did. Gleaming red eyes cut through the darkness like the small orbs shining in the moonlight as the boy walked closer, blood red cloaking his entire body.

"Oh, dear god, Naruto what has it done to you?"

The boy walked closer to the gold clad man; hold onto what appeared to be a blade formed from the power he now wielded. The monster in his mind cursed the nameless man of her spite, and walked into the city streets opposite to the man she had just attacked using the boy's body, it was only at this moment that the Minato began to wonder if the demon's attention were more than just mindless destruction, however entertaining this thought became nothing more than a liability as he drove his injured body to stand, facing the possessed boy as he walked with purpose through the streets.

"Leave his body now foul beast!"

He shouted out in defiance positioning himself in front of the boy.

"Or what?" It questioned staring up into the eyes of the man who now pointed a sword at it, using the boy's voice to speak, "You actually want me to believe that you'd kill your own son?"

Minato paused and wavered lowering his blade for an instant, an instant that allowed the demon to fill the hole in his defense, slashing through his armor and launching him into the fountain in the city square, unbelievably the man had managed to avoid taking a wound to the flesh, but the shock of impact knocked him to the ground and alerted the townsfolk to the happenings.

"Captain!", shouted one of the men under Minato's charge, returning with the one-eyed boy and his team.

"Rin, I need you to look after the captain, we can't have him coming closer." He said to the side, ordering a girl wearing light armor, the beast could tell that she wasn't a fighter; instead she appeared to be a magician. With a laugh the demon walked forward with the sword tightly in hand, still wearing the boy's skin as a disguise.

"I'd appreciate it if you got out of my way, Kakashi"

Kakashi hesitated, staring into the pure red eyes of the boy he had once known, "How do you know my name?" He asked out to the demon.

"I have all of this boy's memories, he's trying to fight me, and I admire him for it, but my problem is not you. However, if you continue to stand in my way, I'll cut through all of you." The demon replied holding it's blade to Kakashi's neck.

"What is your purpose here?" He questioned knowing that the answer wasn't going to be something he could allow.

"I'm here to kill someone" She said smiling with the boy's face, never once dropping the blade even for a second.

"Then I can't step down, release Naruto!" He ordered with authority, never once paying any heed to the blade that would have cut through his jugular with even the slightest motion.

"I can't, once I bond myself to a body, I become a part of them, if you want me to leave him, then kill him, that's the only way." The demon said still seeming to contemplate whether on not to just kill the person in it's way, but before it could a blade knocked away its own.

"You lie!", Shouted Minato, holding his own sword to the one his son now held, "Get out of his body!"

The demon spun the sword into the under hand position and pushed upward with all of it's strength, deflecting Minato's blade as if it were nothing, knocking him off balance. Minato stumbled back and waited for the next attack, completely prepared to defend against it even in his seemingly unguarded state, but thinking that he was in danger one of his knights moved in to fill his defense, however, all he managed to do was catch the monstrous blade in his neck, dropping to the ground in a heap. Minato froze, starring at his fallen soldier in disbelief, all now regarded the possessed boy as a threat, all they could do was grant him a quick death, however Minato remained reluctant.

"Fools till the bitter end, come at me if you wish, but none of you will leave here alive then, remember, I asked you to move."

The demon walked forward, gaining a reaction from the knights as they moved forward, pushing into formation as they moved in, the townspeople stared in horror as the knights were cut down one by one. As they dropped Minato was finally able to steel himself. Moving across the ground as a blur he slammed his sword into the blade of the demon, dragging it down to knock it off balance, but only managed to push it back slightly, after clashing with it one last time, he held his sword study, pushing all of his weight down, leaving it with no chance to deflect as it had done before. Naruto's hand moved to Minato's stomach and as he opened and closed it tightly a new sword appeared in it ripping through Minato's side.

"You're not fighting a normal opponent here Minato." The demon said as it stood to its feet, gazing down at Minato as Kakashi moved to his front, readying his sword to the demon before him. Rin moved to Kakashi's side and began chanting something that went so fast he couldn't make it out, but the demon inside the boy seemed unafraid of whatever was being prepared for it, instead it stood tall with it's dual blades in hand and rushed forward.

"Kakashi, Rin, when I give the signal, I want you to move." Minato said holding his side, now staining his armor red. Unaware of what their superior was planning, but willing to trust him, they waited for his word, and as the demon grew close Minato shouted, "Now!"

Kakashi dived to the side, grabbing Rin with him, leaving only the demon and Minato facing each other, now with its true enemy in front of it, the demon changed intent and aimed for Minato with intent to kill, but before it could do any damage, Minato ripped a strange gun from his side and aimed it at the demon, the enchantment on it's barrel was enough to let it know that the gun didn't fire normal bullets.

"Rasengan!" Minato shouted as he pulled the trigger, firing a strange bullet of pure wind magic the likes of which the demon had never seen, the force behind it was enough to push it back and knock the boy it held unconscious. Naruto laid in the village streets, and as the remaining knights moved in to finish him off, Minato stared on in sadness. Walking before them, he brought the soldiers to a pause, lifting his son onto his back. Many thought this a betrayal, some even stared on in shame, but this was his son, asking him to stand by and watch him be cut down was asking the impossible. Unable to follow the knights laid down their arms and stared at the man in disappointment, all aside from Rin and Kakashi, who admired the man for thinking of another way. Arriving at the castle, he met the eyes of a man with pale eyes, an undeniable trait of the royal family, and with the boy in his arms, he begged for help, gaining a nod from the man allowing him to enter the castle.

"Do you really believe there is a way to cure him?" Asked the man, king of the land they resided in, "It may be all but impossible."

"I can't stand back and leave him, if there is even a chance that I can save him, then I'll give my life trying to find it." He said readying himself to leave, however before he could get far an old man stared at him with sad eyes.

"There is little more you can do than pray to the goddess Hinata that he does not suffer in his death." Spoke the old man staring into Minato's eyes as he spoke, placing his hand on the man's shoulder as if speaking to a young boy.

"Then are you telling me to let him die? I already lost my wife, I won't lose my son." Minato shouted on the brink of tears.

"Is there truly nothing that can be done elder Sarutobi?" Asked the king, hoping to console his most trusted vassal.

"Hiashi, there is nothing that can be done to remove the demon from his body, but you can seal it and returned control to Naruto. However, the demon will always be present in him, both body and mind. He'll be himself, but the presence of the demon and it's power will never fade." Sarutobi said holding his hand over the unconscious boy's body, "And even to do that would cost the user their life."

"Ironic huh, well that's a price I can live with." He said as he laid down his son and gently stroked his head, "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing, just leave everything to me. I'll go prepare a room, when you're ready, come see me and we can begin."

Sarutobi stood to his feet and walked away from Minato, leaving the man to say his final good-bye to the unconscious boy. With a smile he lifted him into his arms and carried him to the room, as the eyes of a young girl watched on. Quietly following the three she was able to gain a safe and unnoticeable spot to watch the ritual. Naruto stirred in his sleep as the flashing light engulfed the entire area Minato stood above him in the circle written and inscribed with magic below them. Minato sighed and began chanting along with the elder as King Hiashi, the overseer of the event watched on.

"Now mark the boy's body." Said Sarutobi as he motioned to Minato giving only a shiver as he felt the life being sucked from his body.

"How?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter, so long as you leave a trace of yourself on him, with the seal you use your life as a catalyst to hold the beast's power in the boy's body. In other words, it is the very essence of the ritual."

Minato nodded his head and traced his finger along the blood at his side, and then wiped drew a swirling circle along Naruto's stomach, with each stroke he could feel his vision fade, pulling at his soul as to rip his mind asunder, but through sheer willpower, he pressed on. Sarutobi stared in awe, the seal, despite the pain the man felt was one of the most intricate things he had ever seen, sending that from his mind, he chanted to final words," Oh blessed world, under the guidance of the goddess we pray for strength. May my hand be those that relinquish this boy from the darkness and save his soul from the beast within."

The room shook as an earthquake, drawing more power from the man in the golden armor, yet he smiled on, looking down at his son with unbridled hope, "May you accomplish so much more than I ever could. Grow strong my son."

With that same smile and the ritual coming to completion Naruto's eyes reopened, now once again their normal shimmering blue, he sat up calling out to his father with tears in his eyes as he fell to the ground, no longer able to hear his son's calls. Naruto hung his head, the demon had been able to experience his memories, and he had done the same, even through the carnage, even through losing his own father, the only person he blamed was himself, for if he haven't returned home despite the warnings of his teacher, he would never had caused any of this. Outside, the girl cried, staring at the distraught boy with pity, his life, would be a hard one.

(Naruto: Age 10)

"Omf" Groaned Naruto as he impacted the wall in the dark alley, surrounded by four boys he couldn't even find the strength or will to fight back. He stared down at the dust on the ground, kicked up by the boy in front of him, the appointed leader of the group.

"So, we see you here once again, monster!" He shouted in a voice filled with venom and malice, stepping closer he launched his foot into Naruto's face knocking him to the ground in the very dirt he was staring into, "Why don't you just go die somewhere!"

"…" Naruto gave no response, he was unwilling to, if the boy could just finish his business and go Naruto could go back home, but the taunting words that came with the beating had become sort of a standard, and it was always the same, making the event far more tiring than it needed to be.

"So you're not going to say anything? Don't you have some kind of excuse for what you did?" He asked knowing full well that Naruto wouldn't speak, he didn't care to hear the answer anyway, he just wanted to talk down to him, no doubt because he liked the sound of his own voice. It was then that he noticed the gun at Naruto's side, no doubt something of great worth.

"Is that the gun of the traitor? That special gun that he was said to have created, nice, someone like you doesn't deserve to have it." The boy reached out his hand, grabbing for Naruto's gun, but the boy's hand clasped onto it tightly, unrelenting as the claws of a crab he held onto it stopping the boy from pulling it away from him, but that didn't stop him from trying, it was only then that Naruto's will was set aflame. He dragged his head up and slammed into the boy's chin, knocking him back to the ground holding his face like it was the first time he had ever taken a hit.

"Did you guys see that, he attacked me, he's crazy!" He shouted with a smile, it didn't matter what they had done to him, if Naruto ever fought back it was going to be torches and pitchforks for dinner, and sure enough with that scream the people spilled out of their houses, under decree of the king they couldn't attack him, but if he had proven a threat then there was nothing wrong, after all they could play off what their kids did as child's play, but now that Naruto had caused one harm, no matter how deserved or minuscule it was they were going to treat him like a great danger. Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the attacks to come at him, but before he could the lone sound of footsteps caught his ears, a sense highly sharpened thanks to the monster inside him.

"Back down!" A single man, a scar directly above his nose ran through the crowd as he made his way to Naruto, "So it's okay to sic your children on him, but it's a problem when he fight's back? Go back to your homes!"

"On what authority?" Shouted one of the men in the crowd of people.

"Mine." Stoically spoke the man draped in knight's armor, a patch over his left eye. Realizing who the man was the crowd quickly dispersed as he walked closer to Naruto.

"Kakashi, Iruka? I told you before I'm not interested in living in the castle just go back and tell the king that!" Naruto spat as he lifted himself from the ground and turned to walk away.

"You don't get to do this today. It is no longer a request, it's an order." Kakashi stated down to the boy, bringing him to a pause.

"What do you mean an order?"

"You have been drafted; you no longer have any say in the matter."

"Heh, so the King decided to play hardball huh?" Naruto asked with a disgusted grin, starting into the cold emotionless eye of Kakashi's.

"This was not given to you by the king, this is the princess' order." Kakashi smiled with obvious amusement on his face as Naruto froze up, unsure on how to respond to such a thing.

"What? Why would she give me an order, I've never even met her before." He asked in disillusion, Naruto had idea how to handle such a situation; instead he turned to Iruka, who also seemed to enjoy Naruto's confusion.

"Well that doesn't matter now Naruto, you are now a knight of Konoha, so you have no choice but you come with us. Failure to comply will result in immediate incarceration."

Iruka pulled out a sheet of paper and held it in front of Naruto, the seal on it proved it's validity, and with a huff, he lowered his arms and followed them. Before entering the castle they took Naruto to the barracks, allowing him to clean off and get himself outfitted before stepping before royalty and with him now ready they entered the castle's main gate. Of course it wasn't the first time Naruto had been there, but it was the first time he had ever been there solely to meet the country's royal family. Naruto's anger quickly being replaced by anxiety, he felt the shivers going down his spine, and soon he stared into the eyes of the country's king.

"It's been a while since I've seen you last Naruto." Spoke Hiashi in a mighty voice, booming down from his throne as he lifted a hand to his guards to leave them after realizing their glares aimed at the boy. Naruto lowered his eyes after catching wind of it and then returned them to the king above, "I apologize for everything that's happened, but it seems that you'll be living in the castle from now on."

"I don't remember it being a requirement for knights to stay in the castle your highness." spoke Naruto with ire in his voice, aimed up to the man dressed in gorgeous white and gold robes as he laughed heartily, almost making the crown fall from his head.

"You seem to be mistaken." He said down with a smile, causing Naruto's confusion to return, "You have not been inducted into knighthood, but should you so wish, that can be done, however it will require a little more effort on your part."

"Then what am I doing here?" He asked out as the king's eyes turned to the side, peeking into the corridor to his left. From the walkway came a young girl, her eyes a beautiful shade of lavender, as she turned them to Naruto, never once removing them even as she moved to her father's side. The grace in which she walked was mystifying, even without looking she had navigated the room as no normal person could've.

"Hello Naruto, as you may know, I am Princess Hanabi Hyuga of the leaf kingdom. Nice to meet you." She said with a polite bow that overwhelmed Naruto's senses. With flustered kneel he lowered his head.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, I-I'm pleased to meet you Hanabi-hime." Hiashi smiled with amusement much like the two men at Naruto's side. He had never once bowed to the king as he spoke to him, but a single sentence from the girl was enough to completely level his resolve.

"I'm sorry to have used such a heavy handed tactic, but Father seemed to be having trouble convincing you so I thought that I should give it a try." Her smile was so radiant that Naruto's eyes almost melted at the sight, but her words allowed him to remember what he was there for, while lifting his head, Naruto asked.

"If I'm not to become a knight, what have I been brought here for?"

"Well, you're to be my bodyguard from now on." Once again she released her killer smile, but this time Naruto was unaffected, for he was too stunned to actually react to it.

"Excuse me?" He questioned once again.

"Is it too odd to understand Naruto-san?" She asked, wearing the same smile, completely overlapping Naruto's will, yet even without his rational thought, he was able to remember his question.

"Aren't bodyguards required to be knights?" He asked aiming his question to the king rather than the girl giving the order.

"Not necessarily. Besides this is a direct request from the princess, are you telling me that you wish to refuse?" His question posed with a smile reeking satisfaction.

"Excuse me your highness, but I cannot do such a thing, you do know of my past correct?"

"I was there that night, I know of everything, even things that our people are unaware of." She said, bearing a sad smile she opened her mouth to continue her explanation, "I'm not bringing you here out of pity, or abusing my authority, I simply tire of seeing the happenings in town."

"So you see that huh? But surely there are people more fit than me to be the princess' bodyguard." He said trying his best to back out of the order being given.

"That may be so, but I'd much rather have someone my age to hang out with rather than the stuffy guards around here." She said with a comforting smile aimed at Naruto that once again managed to completely shatter his resolve.

"Dear please don't forget yourself."

"I'm sorry father. Can Naruto-kun and I go somewhere to speak in private?" She asked in a sugary sweet tone that never failed to gain a positive response from her father, and with a proud smile he nodded, allowing the girl to depart welcoming Naruto to join her, which he reluctantly complied to. Walking through the halls of the castle with the girl was probably the most exciting thing he had done since his father died, the thought brought his spirits back to earth.

"I truly can't understand how you must feel." Naruto jumped at the girl's sudden statement. She had been all but quiet since he had begun walking with her.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry but maybe I'm not the right person for this." Naruto aimed his eyes to the ground in discontent, knowing the demon inside him had forever forced him to be alone. Naruto placed his hand on his stomach and looked back into the pale lavender eyes of the girl before him, "I'm not sure if I'll ever lose control, if I do then who knows what will happen to everyone around me?"

"The demon inside you isn't evil is it?" She asked with a knowing smile that completely threw Naruto.

"What do you mean?"

"I have a special trait that allows me to see through things. There are stories that the royal family of Konoha descended from the Goddess Hinata herself. Many believe this to be only a story, but it's definitely true. Clairvoyance; it's the secret of the royal family."

"Are you sure you should be telling me something like this?" He asked with a slightly frightened expression.

"Who would you tell, at that, who would believe you? Tell me, is the demon taking over something that you truly believe or is it something you use to justify not fighting back. Is it what you use to run away from everything?"

"No, I….." Naruto looked to the ground again and dropped his hand from his stomach. "The demon was only here to find the man who used her kin in a ritual to gain strength, and we attacked her. One of the foxes that he used was her son."

"I see. Then I have nothing to worry about do I?" She asked with a pure smile, one she had never dropped since leaving the throne room. "Her intent was not evil, that means that you aren't evil either right. I'm going to give you a choice."

Hanabi pushed open the large door to her side, letting the light spill in, rendering Naruto's eyes useless for a moment, but once they readjusted he could see the beautiful princess standing in the clearing, looking at him.

"I'm going into the garden, if you wish to refuse, then you may walk through the castle gates and return to your life. However, if you choose to accept the offer, then you can join me. I'll take your presence or absence as your answer." Hanabi turned her back to Naruto and walked into the garden with a skip. Eyes locked on the spot Hanabi had been standing in, Naruto looked at his hand and closed his eyes, turning his back to the garden he took a step. Hanabi laid on the brilliant grass staring into the sky and closed her eyes with a sad smile.

"I want to know." Came a voice from behind her, coming as no surprise to her, "Why are you so intent on it being me?"

Hanabi rolled over to Naruto and smiled with proud eyes, "I've been watching you for a while you know. I don't think that I've ever stopped watching you since that night. It was never far from my mind and I've wanted to speak to you for a while now, but every time I saw you, you looked lost, it made me afraid to approach you."

"You were afraid of me too?"

"No, I guess I felt afraid of hurting you more than you already were."

"So you pitied me?" He asked with his head hung low.

"Naruto, it's been hidden from the public, but recently there was an attempt on my life." Naruto's eyes shot toward the girl in shock, "Father killed the man in front of me, and I can't get it out of my head. Father apologized to me, but the image won't go away." She said with a smile despite the obvious hurt in her voice.

"Hanabi-hime."

"I didn't want to regret this, but I always wanted to know you. So I finally found a way to bring you here. Surprised?" She asked, sticking out her tongue in a playful manner.

"I see, then what do I have to do?" Naruto asked, smiling happily at the girl in front of him.

"Well, you could start by sitting with me." Hanabi patted the patch of grass next to her and welcomed Naruto to it, sighing in defeat Naruto joined the girl in the garden, firmly deciding to fulfill his new duty, maybe even if he couldn't be good at it, protecting this girl would make his life worth something.

"Um, Hanabi-sama? Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked with his head hung low as he walked through the city streets accompanying the girl who seemed to care very little for the eyes aimed at her.

"Why wouldn't it be, it would be a waste if you only protected me in the castle. Besides, it's been a week since you started and I've only seen you wear knight's attire." She replied, walking through the streets looking for the right shop to head in to.

"Why would I not wear knight's attire? I didn't know being a bodyguard for a royal had a casual day."

"Well it does when you work for me. Now come on and stop complaining." She said dragging Naruto by the hand, which she proceeded to hold on to until reaching the store, embarrassing the boy to no end.

"This looks like a good one." She said calmly gazing at the racks of clothing around them as Naruto uncomfortably accompanied her. Completely overtaken by her search for clothes, Hanabi had never noticed the glares Naruto was receiving, or maybe it was that she didn't care, however for him, there was a strong feeling of anxiety washing over him, making his steps heavy. Tightly closing his eyes Naruto imagined himself somewhere else, anywhere but where he was, it was the only solace he could find.

"This would look great on you." Hanabi said with a smile, holding up a shirt to Naruto, forcing open his eyes, "Why don't you stand closer to me, you are my bodyguard after all."

Naruto stared into the girl's eyes and finally he understood, she had been protecting him, even if they walked into the shop, even if people were afraid of him, or wanted to kick him out. They couldn't do so with him being in the company of the princess. Suddenly lost in the girl's eyes he lowered his head.

"Hanabi-sama, I'm sor-?"

"This is a perk of being the Princess' royal guard, so don't worry so much, you'll be just fine." She said grabbing onto his hand with a caring and affectionate smile. After returning to the castle and recovering from carrying everything the princess had purchased, Naruto lied in his bed, staring up at the elegant marble ceiling above his head in contemplation.

"Why of all people did she choose me?" He asked, reaching to his side for the famed gun his father had left behind. Running his fingers along the markings on its barrel he furrowed his brow in thought and with his decision finally made he sat up from his bed and walked toward the door.

"You want me to train you?" Asked the one-eyed knight, sweating from the intense training he had just been doing as Rin watched from the side smiling at the young demon-bearer, "Why the sudden interest? When I asked you before you always turned me down."

"Well things have changed so are you going to train me or not?" He asked rudely, barely giving out an adequate response to Kakashi's question, "I want to be able to fight."

"Alright." He said closing the book in his hand, turning to the blonde haired by with a smile, "However, in exchange you must stop skipping out on Iruka's classes "

"What!" He shouted in obvious disagreement, but Kakashi's lifted finger brought him to a pause.

"Is it a deal?"

"Fine." Naruto cast his eyes to the ground and huffed bringing a smile to the one-eyed warrior before him.

"You've grown, is the princess who we have to thank for this change."

"She, deserves a better charge, yet she seems to be set on it being me. So I will become her knight." Rin smiled, pushing herself away from her seat and moving toward Naruto.

"I will help." She said turning to Naruto who seemed uninterested in her offer.

"Um, I'm okay, I don't really want to know magic, too much, "incantations" and "symbols" for me thank you."

Rin chuckled at Naruto's words and shook her head, aiming her small finger at Naruto's side-arm, "Maybe you should take a look at your weapon there. Tell me, have you ever been able to fire that off?"

Naruto reached down, grabbing onto the legendary gun at his hip and appraising it, "No, are you telling me that it has something to do with magic?"

"Of course, for those without natural talent to use "mana" there is a certain spell placed on the items they use that allow them to conjure certain spells. This spell is called "Icarus" are you familiar with the legend of Icarus?"

"The guy in Greek mythology that flew too close to the sun?"

"Yes, it is aptly named after him in order to allow those without natural mana to use items imbued with magical runes. However there is a limiter placed on them that stop you from 'flying into the sun' so to speak." Lifting the gun from Naruto she eyed its inscription and said with a smile, "But this one is special, only those with significant mana can use it, but it doesn't have Icarus placed on it. Instead it draws on magic from the user and fires a wind bullet strong enough to crush a tank."

Handing it back to Naruto she activated the seal on the Rasengan and aimed it for Naruto, "Now fire." She commanded, as the boy nervously aimed the gun at the closest thing to him and pulled the trigger, but much his surprise, nothing happened.

"What's wrong?"

"Well you didn't think it'd be that easy did you, you'll have to know at least a little about how to summon your mana before trying to use it, that's what I'm going to teach you. So are you interested?"

"Yeah, if it'll let me use this gun, then I'll take it."

He said staring at the brilliant weapon in his hand with glee, if he could master it like his father did, then maybe he could become the knight that the princess deserved.

"Father!" Hanabi ran through the halls of the castle frivolously searching for Naruto before finally coming across her father, who upon her call dismissed his council to other matters.

"Is there something wrong you seem to be rather distracted?"

"Naruto-kun vanished again, he's been doing it randomly for a month now." She said trying desperately to catch her breath, "I can't find him in the castle."

"Well there are a lot of places on the castle grounds, are you sure that you search it all?"

"Well everything that I could without using the 'you know what'." She said lowering her eyes, knowing that her father would understand what she meant.

"Hm, that's strange, where could he be?" He asked knowing full well where Naruto had been going, he was supervising the training the boy was undertaking. Hanabi stared into her father's eyes, trying to pry any sign she could from them, but it was like playing poker with a brick wall, every 'tell' that may have shown on another person was completely hidden on his face.

"I'm going to look in the training fields." She said on a whim, finally gaining a response from her father albeit a small one.

"Why there?" He asked wondering if he had somehow given her a clue.

"He's seemed extremely tired lately, but he told me that he was charged with cleaning the castle by the guards. If he was lying then that will become his new job for the next week." She said stomping away from her father who made no attempt to stop the girl, in fact he joined her, whatever happened was going to be entertaining, for him at least.

Naruto panted, trying with everything he had to catch his breath and somehow find a hole in his opponent's defense.

"Why are we fighting bare-handed?" He asked lifting himself to his feet and holding his stance, ready to move in on Kakashi at a second's notice.

"Because hand to hand is the basis of all combat, if you can't fight without a weapon, then there is no use picking one up." Kakashi smiled under his mask and waited for Naruto to stand once again, and then he'd put him back down as he had done before, but this time the boy seemed different. Running forward, Naruto lowered himself, bringing up his fist for Kakashi's face, barely missing his mark, but instead of letting his assault end there, he brought his right foot up, kicking for Kakashi's chin.

"Not bad." Kakashi said, leaning away from the hit without much effort, but amazed by the boy's ability to recover from his first hit with a second, it was at that moment that he realized way the boy was faster. Naruto looked up to Kakashi with blood red eyes, however his smile seemed the same.

"I'm not going to lose this fight without landing at least one blow on you." He said lowering his body once again, preparing to move in once again for another attack. Rushing past Kakashi in an attack that he had just barely managed to dodge the man's eyes watched on in complete shock.

"_He can use the power of the beast?"_ He thought to himself, weaving between the wild swings of the undisciplined boy's attacks. Each swing slashed through the air like a finely sharpened blade, cutting toward Kakashi with intent to kill, _"If he can use this much power…"_ Kakashi flipped back, landing on his hand, and tossing himself away from the quickly approaching boy. Giving a sharp exhale Naruto stood his ground, studying Kakashi's every movement, something he never would have done if it hadn't been for the man's training. Noticing Kakashi's studious glare Naruto rushed in once again hastily trying to gain the advantage over Kakashi, but his haste gave away his intentions and with a skillful parry Kakashi dodged the attack and pilfered the Rasengan from Naruto's side, aiming it at the boy.

"Sorry about this kid, but rushing in was a bad choice, especially when your opponent gets serious." With those words Kakashi pulled the trigger on the gun and released a focused blast of wind magic at Naruto, however, the second it made contact with the boy, his image faded from sight, "An afterimage? When did he learn how to do something like that?" Kakashi gaze around the battlefield and quickly caught sight of the hole burrowed in the ground before him, and soon after the sound of the boy reemerging from below him. Naruto shot from the ground, launching his fist up toward Kakashi who took a single step back to avoid it, but couldn't manage to dodge the spinning back kick Naruto followed it with.

"Got ya!" He shouted, flipping down to the ground in a crotch, throwing himself at Kakashi with full intent on continuing his attack, but the quick recovery Kakashi had made he was ready to reprise the boy's attack. Kakashi grabbed onto the boy's face and pushed down, throwing himself into the air and knocking Naruto into the ground. Hanging over the boy he fired the Rasengan once again, but this time he managed to land his blast on the real boy, drilling him into the ground. Kakashi landed to the ground and placed the Rasengan to his side heaving a heavy sigh.

"Sorry about that kid, but I wasn't sure exactly how much power you had, but I'm glad to see I was right." He said staring down at the boy's whose wounds began to heal at a rate that seemed medically impossible, "Your curse may just be your greatest strength, I'll have to remember that for next time."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Kakashi turned to the shout, and sweat bullets under the frightened face of the kingdom's princess. As she ran toward Naruto, buried in the crater the cyclone had created.

"Um, I'm just gonna.."

"Move and I'll have you locked in the deepest hole this kingdom can offer." Hanabi said with authority back towards Kakashi who stiffened at the horrifying statement.

"Yes Ma'am." He weakly replied, hoping that he may have some way to talk himself out of the situation. Hiashi inwardly chuckled, glancing at his daughter, trying her best to sound more angry than worried at the now awakened boy who seemed to believe her ruse.

"To think, someone so worried that their bodyguard is hurt. Isn't it his job to get that roughed up?" Kakashi asked over to Hiashi who held his chin questioningly.

"No, I don't think she wanted a bodyguard, I just don't think he understands yet. His true job description, is more like 'friend'." Hanabi, why don't we get Naruto back to the castle so that he can heal up, you can kill him afterwards."

"Wha?" Questioned Naruto, yet grew silent after receiving a stern glare from the princess, yet despite her protests, Naruto continued to train, all that she could was watch over him. His resolve had never been stronger, and his hope to protect the girl under his watch was all he needed to grow stronger.

(Naruto: Age 12)

"A visitor?" asked Naruto, speaking in a tone of familiarity with the princess that tended to anger he other guards on duty.

"Yes, it's a close friend of mine and her older brother, but be mindful of your tongue Naruto-kun, they're royalty like me."

"Are they like you or snotty like real royals?"

"So I'm not a real royal in your mind?" she asked in retort to Naruto's statement which Naruto responded to with a smile.

"It's not like that, you're just special, even among nobles. So I just want to know if I have to put the stick up my butt or leave it out." He asked crudely.

"Hmhm, we'll see how it goes and go from there." She said with a chuckle to her friendly bodyguard. Upon reaching the throne room they were greeted by two stone faced men, one of which being their country's king and the other being a man Naruto had never seen before. The air around Naruto suddenly became suffocating, as if he was being judged by the unfamiliar man staring at him with stern eyes.

"I see, so the rumors I heard were true?" he asked staring down at Naruto with a gaze that screamed nobility, what Naruto had been cautious of only moments before.

"Naruto, this is the king of the fire nation, Fugaku Uchiha." Said the man he had come to know over the years, never once had he seen him with such an unwelcoming stare as what he saw currently, it was as if the person in his company were someone who always drudged along unpleasant business. Naruto bowed down in respect to the foreign king, but was quickly halted by the shout of the girl under the sour man's wing.

"Hana-chan!" screamed a girl with flowing black hair, seeming to be around the age of Hanabi, dressed in formal robes, yet giving off the same warm feeling that his princess did.

"Yuka-chan, it's been ages." She shouted welcoming the girl's hug as her brother dragged his feet walking along side her with his hands buried in his pockets.

"Who's he?" He asked, rudely down to the boy at Hanabi's side, proudly displaying a sword at his side as if he were a knight. He appeared to be Naruto's age, but his manner seemed to be of a far more mature nature than the other boy. Firmly deciding in his mind that he didn't like this person, Naruto stood to his tall and snorted.

"Is that how you respond to royalty?" he asked with a lifted eyebrow, screaming of arrogance. Naruto turned his back to him and closed his eyes.

"This is Naruto-kun, my bodyguard, please don't mind him, he's rather brash."

"I see so this is the handsome blonde you kept talking about?" Yukari asked with a smile, bringing a blush to her friend who quickly tried to cover her mouth before she could continue.

"Bodyguard eh?" the prince asked gazing down to the sword draped across Naruto's lower back, "Can someone like you even protect the princess?"

"To be honest, I don't know." He said back to the prince in retort, "But I can assure you, that if any harm does come down upon her, it'll have to happen at the expense of my life." He stated flatly, resolve dripping from his words without even the slightest doubt. Sasuke smirked at those words.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha prince of the fire kingdom, this girl is very important to my sister. I'm counting on you to look after her." Sasuke reached his hand out to Naruto, destroying the previous opinion Naruto had had of him. Reaching, Naruto shook the hand of the foreign prince.

"Why don't you all run along, we have business to discuss." Hiashi spoke strongly, urging the children to leave the room. After watching them depart from the throne room with a polite bow the two men locked eyes with one another, "I assume you came here to convince me to take part in your inquisition of the dragons."

"It would be most advantageous if your people could assist us in this matter." Fugaku asked, moving closer to Hiashi who seemed more reluctant to continue sharing words with the brash man in front of him.

"I hear that you wiped them all out, why come to me?"

"We had, however…."

(One month earlier)

"Your highness, that was the last of them!" shouted one of the horse riding knights accompanying Fugaku.

"What of the one who escaped into the tower?"

"He was gravely wounded, I doubt that he would have been able to survive much longer." The knight reported moving closer to his king.

"They didn't fight back, why?" He asked to himself scanning over the remains of the battlefield, appraising the scorch marks left on the ground in the area, "And that old one, he only destroyed those crystals, what was the gain in that?" Fugaku trotted across the field as if trying to assess the dragon's state of mind, such fearsome beast, giving up as if their lives meant nothing, why?

"Access the tower and take everything inside." Saluting to the king's order the knights made they're way into the castle hoping to find riches and maybe even the famed weapon the dragons been rumored to keep.

"Grandpa, I will not-" A boy shouted out in delayed defiance as his consciousness had finally returned to him days after the coup had begun. The boy lifted himself from the ground, stumbling through the castle in thunderous, heavy steps. Walking into the castle's corridor the boy locked eyes on a massive purple crystal, resting right before his door.

"Grandpa." He whispered before he crystal. 'Crysm' the fossilized remains of a slain dragon, deep inside the crystal the boy could see his grandfather's spirit, and as rage began to boil inside him, he heard the sounds of soldiers, no doubt human, cheering over their victory., that is, until they locked eyes on the tower fifteen foot behemoth, no doubt growling in rage. The boy turned back and walked towards the men and only minutes later their mangled corpses could be seen flying from the castle and mere inches away from the king of the fire nation. Stunned by the sudden attack he stared upward to the castle's towering form above him catching a glimpse of the monster falling down toward him, wings kicking up dust on impact with the ground.

"Kill it!" The King calmly ordered to his servants spread along the field of battle. Under order of the king, the knights moved in charging for the last of the monster that only earlier they had slain, however before they could even lifted their swords to him, he lifted his giant wings and flapped down to the ground scattering the dust on the ground before the eyes of the incoming warriors and with a massive roar he ripped into them, then blew away the massive dust cloud with a plume of fire erupting from his mouth into the sky. He scanned the battlefield, catching sight of the proud king glaring at him from across the plain, knowing his intention. The boy charged, leaving behind all coming for him, and toward the many waiting before the king, but without pause he knocked away the knights and continued pushing forward.

"Fire!" Ordered the king to his rifle wielding knights, but even the bullets fired from the weapon were for naught, being quickly bounced away by the boy's tough scales. Latching his hand on one of the rifle holders, he snapped his neck, slamming him down into the next with complete bloodlust and continued for the king, steamrolling everything in his way with his powerful flames. Slowly realizing that this was a beast out of his league he ordered a final charge, but before his words could reach his troops, he found the dragon's hand tightly around his neck, but the massive hand could have easily been wrapped around his entire body. However before he could kill the man responsible for all his pain, a hand reached onto his.

"Sixth art: fire wing." The man whispered a silent deep voice, swinging his arm toward the dragon with the power of fire engulfing his fist, smashing into the dragon's chest with enough force to knock him back, however it was made clear by the dragon's quick recovery that he had done nothing more than that.

"Itachi." Call out the king short for breath as his eldest son walked before the dragon who stood tall, ready to rip through the prince as he had his men before him.

"_Fou-lu, my noble and proud prince. You must not fight in anger, allow not your emotions to move your heart. That is why I put you into a deep sleep, that is why our people did not fight back. Do not allow yourself to die, but do not, allow yourself to become as weak as a human. Please remember that you are our king, my grandson."_

The voice echoing in Fou's mind calmed him, bringing his mind from the overwhelming anger he felt in his heart. Exhaling the dragon backed away from the prince and replenished his dragon form, into a form that seemed human. Walking away from the dwindled fire forces and the nobles behind him, he gazed to the sky and closed his eyes, allowing tears t flow down his light brown skin.

"Leave this place mortals!" He shouted back, confusing the king of the knights, he had believed that the dragons could not speak, let alone take on the form of a human. The boy smiled at the obvious ignorance he could see in the man's eyes, "Was it so much more enjoyable to slaughter us when you thought us mindless beasts. Human king, if you return to this place, I will kill you, and then, I will destroy your country and everyone in it. This is a promise on my honor as an endless."

The placed his hand on the castle's outer wall and behind him fire spilled, surrounding the keep and spreading out into the field, incinerating everything it touched within a mile, letting all know that the boy would not allow any further advance. As the knights retreated, one stood staring into the eyes of the dragon with cold indifference, soon enough though he departed as well.

(Present day)

"So the great knight king was humbled?" Asked Hiashi, holding his chin in his hand.

"I am glad that you find my plight so amusing Hiashi." The man retorted in spite toward the king of the leaf nation.

"I do not find it amusing in the least, the dragon clan has watched over the fire nation for years, and you ended that because you saw them as stupid beasts, and then a single one leveled your army. That is what I call karma."

"Your snide remarks are beginning to wear on me Hiashi." He growled in anger.

"I'm sorry, but that is your own matter, if this dragon is as powerful as you say, assisting you will only serve to make my nation its target as well, a certainly unfavorable situation, as I see things, you've brought this upon yourself. If you want my advice, whatever you were looking for in that castle, forget it. It's not worth the wrath of that creature."

"I don't need you advice Hiashi, and it seems that my plea has fallen on deaf ears, so I'll depart for now, however I do have one question, what is an endless?"

"If legends ring true, it is an immortal leader of certain clans. Their power is told to be terrifying, which is why I once again implore you to leave your army in wait."

"Hiashi, your nation is strong, but I do not agree with your coddling nature, this has just made the stakes higher, and I look forward the seeing an immortal fall. Also, know that the reason I haven't decided to take your kingdom's flag is because our my daughter loves yours."

"Those are dangerous words Fugaku, but I agree, I have no desire to upset my daughter only to settle a score with you." He spat in disgust.

"I'll take my leave of you. Yukari and Sasuke will remain here for the time being."

"Are you sure that's wise, I may try to clip your bloodline."

"And that would be the last mistake you ever make. However you wouldn't, I can see it in you."

"Yes, I wouldn't hurt children only to resolve a vendetta against their father, safe trip Fugaku." He said, only receiving a snort in response. Hiashi looked down and then over to the garden, watching Naruto talk to the young Uchiha prince as the two girls admire the flowers planted around them, however Hiashi could tell that things were going to change soon, however, if only they could stay as happy as they seemed now.

(Naruto: Age 13)

"So it's true?" Hiashi asked to his messenger as he relayed the grim news to him.

"Yes your highness, what do you wish me to do?" He asked, slightly lifting his head from the bowed position he had it in to gaze into his king's eyes. Hiashi held his head in deep thought pondering the task given to him.

"Was it?" He asked down to his messenger.

"No, there were no signs of anyone leaving the scene and if it were a dragon whom had done it I bought he would have kept a low profile."

"I see…Has the press gotten hold of the news yet?"

"No, not yet sire."

"Hold it off as long as possible and assist in the investigation. That is all we can do for now." He said lowering his head, remembering the words his messenger had relayed even long after he was gone.

Naruto stared at the ceiling, memories of the foreign prince and the things he said of his nation, Naruto now thought to himself, with the head of the princess resting on his lap after crying herself to sleep. _"Sasuke, Yukari, what's going to happen now, that the king and queen have fallen?"_

Naruto closed his eyes and looked down to the girl below him, rubbing her head softly. It was only the beginning of events to come later. That night Naruto stared at the ceiling of his room again, something he hadn't done in years, until something told him to look outside, in the pouring rain stood Sasuke, staring up at his room with a gaze begging him to come down, and in a hurry he did just that.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked holding an umbrella over Sasuke's head. Sasuke walked over to the castle gates and sat on the stairs.

"I need to talk to you, have you heard?" He asked with large swollen eyes.

"Yeah, did you come here alone, how did you get here so fast?" He asked in worry.

"I had to leave, they were all there and talking about…..Yukari hasn't spoken yet." He said looking down the ground, "Naruto, it was Itachi, he did it, I saw him, he was right there, standing over them. And then he just walked out, he never even gave a reason why, he just left."

"Sasuke…."

"I've decided, I'm going to find him, I'm going to figure out why, and kill him."

"Sasuke, you can't do that, you're next in line to the throne right?" He asked reaching out for Sasuke who quickly pulled away.

"Naruto, I didn't come here to ask for advice, I just wanted to tell someone, so that someone could tell Yukari why I disappeared. Naruto I was there the whole time, but all I could do was watch, never let go of her. The princess loves you Naruto, hold her tight and never let anyone hurt her."

Naruto could do little more than watch as Sasuke pulled a cloak over his head and walked through the gates, "Goodbye Naruto."

"…..Good luck."

Sasuke turned back once and nodded to Naruto before continuing on his way.

"_It was at that moment that I realized that life could change in the blink of an eye. A life of happiness, must be one that you protect with both hands, and mine was one I'd never let go of, maybe I should've been better prepared. For even unrelated events can tie together destinies. This was the moment that tied me, Sasuke, and Fou-lu together a single event, which led to an adventure like no other."_

Chapter one end!

Just in case people are wondering the ages have been changed in this story, for while Naruto is 13 Hanabi is 11 instead of 9. Yukari is 12 and Fou-lu/Norugi/JJ is 126. Well just like the base story this one is going to be an experiment, I'm only going to continue if people like it. So, I'm out.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again I step into the world of fantasy, one I don't normally go into but what the hell.

Chapter 2: Starting point

(Naruto: age 14)

Naruto awoke in a semi-slumberous state, it hadn't been long since the princess of the fire kingdom had departed, however she had only come on business as the only remaining heir to the throne. Her demeanor was way different than what he was used to, but many of her characteristics were still the same, being able to put on a smile like that must have been rough after what happened. Naruto broke from his early morning musings and sat up from his bed, slovenly making his way to the balcony without bothering to dress himself. The sunlight had often been his rouse into awareness, but at the moment it was something else, something unfamiliar moving around in the garden. In these times of peace there were very few moments when Naruto had to truly act as a guard, but right now his instinct warned him to head for the garden as quickly as possible. Dressing in his normal knight's attire, he ran down to the garden with unmatched haste, drawing his blade on the suspect he ordered out with authority.

"Don't move; state your name and your business here!" Even he was shocked at how much he had changed over the years, pulling his sword before even confirming the person to be a threat. Inwardly he sighed, how much of a tool was he?

"I don't think you're a tool." said a quiet voice coming from the recipient of his scorn. A girl who appeared to be his age, long dark blue hair flowing down her back, and a white flowing dress, she was beautiful, but nothing overpowered the mystifying pale lavender eyes of hers, an unmistakable trait of the Hyuga family, "Have I done something wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I just haven't seen you here before." He choked out, nearly stumbling over his words as he sheathed his sword, never once bothering to ask the girl how she'd known what he was thinking, "Are you a member of the royal family?"

"I'm a very distant relative. And you are my brave knight?" she asked with a smile that threw Naruto's mind into a blender, or at least that how it felt with how his thoughts processed.

"Uh, um, I'm…Hi." He squeaked out, rather pathetically, lifting a single hand to the girl as he rubbed the back of his neck. The girl chuckled, amused by the boy's bewildered state of affairs, but in his mind the chuckle meant that he'd messed up.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't mind, take your time, I don't have to leave yet, we have all the time in the world." Naruto couldn't take his mind away from the girl's entrancing words, for if he had, he'd have noticed that time had stopped around him. Sucking on air, Naruto flopped down next to the girl and smiled.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Yours?"

"Hinata Hyuga." She replied with a smile.

"You mean like the goddess?"

"Yes, my parents were quite taken with her." There was that smile again, making Naruto's heart rate skyrocket.

"It suits you, you look exactly like the pictures of her too, even down to your hair." He said noticing the girl's flowing locks, not gaining on to the fact that he was staring until her eyes met his, forcing both into a fierce blush, "So do you come here often?"

Hinata had no idea how to respond to the question, but she was positive that he was just trying to break the tension, his effort however, made her laugh and soon after he joined in with the infectious feeling.

"No, I just came on a spur of the moment. I don't think they know me anyway."

"Have you talked to them?" Naruto asked in worry.

"I'm forbidden to." She said with a sad smile that gained Naruto's curious gaze. "Have you heard the story of our family?"

"You mean clairvoyance? I know…sorry."

"It's quite alright, but that's only part of what I meant. It begins from a long time ago, when the goddess created the land, she blessed the world with riches and the creatures on it with love. Even though the goddess protected the people and still they strayed, until all they could think of was themselves, and soon the goddess began to suffer. In order to free her pain she created a daughter, one who shared her powers, a goddess who would take the place of the ruling goddess and help her rule the world, but the young goddess was foolish, desiring the things the world's creatures had, and soon she fell in love. The ruling goddess lent ear to her child's plight and with a heavy heart she granted her wish, and she became mortal, to live with her love, leaving her mother to suffer alone one again." Hinata said, sadly gazing to the ground, holding her knees to her chest as her beautiful feet patted into the grass below.

"What happened with the young goddess?" Naruto asked, moving closer to the saddened girl.

"She died a mortal, yet her blood still courses through the veins of the royal family. However, the ruling goddess had no one. Everyone only thought of themselves, never her needs or desires."

"People can be greedy that way, only able to see what's right in front of them and not caring about what happens to the other person, but to me that makes the goddess all the more wonderful."

"Huh? How so?" Hinata asked perking up slightly from Naruto's words.

"She had to suffer, but she was willing to help the daughter who abandoned her, even though she'd have to bare the burden alone. She had to cry all alone, but she still tried and gave us everything we have now, despite us asking too much, you were named after a wonderful person Hinata." Naruto said flashing a smile that sent Hinata's heart into a frenzy. Shooting to her feet Hinata turned away from Naruto and started running towards the gates.

"What's wrong? Do I say something weird?" He asked reaching out to the girl now far from his reach.

"No, you made me happy, but I have to go now or else I'll regret it."

"Regret it?"

"Thank you for listening?"

"Why did you tell me that story?"

"It's one you should remember, even if doing something for others make them happy, never forget make yourself happy too. But I liked your spin on it better. I hope you'll listen to me again sometime Naruto-kun." Hinata opened the massive gates of the castle with very little effort, something that should have rang alarm bells with Naruto, however he was so concerned with catching the girl that it never occurred to him, however by the time he had reached the gates the girl was gone.

"Naruto-kun?" came a small voice from behind the slightly older boy, forcing his attention to her, "Is something wrong, why are you dressed that way?"

"Huh, oh yeah, I was talking to that girl in the garden, didn't you see her?"

"Who, I didn't see anyone, I only saw you ran out into the garden and then to the gates. Are you feeling okay? Maybe you should quit that training you've been doing so much, I'll be sure to tell Kakashi-san." She said spinning on her heels to find the head knight as Naruto screamed behind her.

"Wait that's not necessary, wait Hanabi-hime!" As Naruto chased the girl eyes peered down on him from above, gazing happily at the boy she had just departed from.

"Hinata-sama!" screamed a woman with deep red eyes and beautiful black hair, seeming unfitting with her pure white wings elegantly perched on her back.

"Kurenai-san, you seem well." She replied flippantly to the demanding voice of the angel before her.

"Don't you know what you've done; you're not supposed to make contact with the human world so callously." She shouted, finally pausing to draw breath as the girl, now turned woman before her paid little attention to her worries.

"I know the rules Kurenai-san, I made them." Hinata turned away from her worrywart companion and waltzed through the gates of her proud and beautiful castle, nodding to the angels waiting in rest for her return.

"Shall I prepare a bath for you milady?" asked an angel with a scruffy goatee, bowing to the goddess in reverence.

"That would be wondrous, and don't call me milady Asuma-kun. Also, I need your assistance with a matter on the surface; do you think you can handle it?"

"As you wish." He said with a gruff smile, materializing his bladed knuckles, whenever he was sent to the planet it usually involved stray demons that needed to be disappeared, and Asuma wasn't just good at his job, he enjoyed it, "When do you wish me to leave?"

"At your leisure, I will send you orders to you as you depart." With a smile and a bow he walked away from the goddess preparing her bath and readying for his trip to the surface, giving a smile to Kurenai, who still trailed behind the goddess, before going on with his business.

"Hinata-sama, can you at least listen to me?" Sighing she helped the goddess as she unrobed and dipped into the refreshing water that could only be described as heavenly.

"It's not good for you to associate with humans, if they learned your identity-"

"You worry too much, if someone tried to hurt me, all I'd need is a single flick of my wrist and there would be no more worries from them, ever." She said rolling around in the tub like a child.

"And why did you choose that boy?" Kurenai asked holding the almighty book in her hand, making the benevolent ruler freeze.

"Um, I, Uh…" She fumble, tapping the tips of her fingers together shyly, "I'm curious is all. You know that his father was Minato, one of our angels, and he's had a harsh life so-"

"It's wrong for you to be drawn to a human, besides he's still a kid."

"I'm over 4 thousand years old; it's hard to find a human that isn't a child to me. Besides, there's something about him that seems different. The blood of an angel, yet the spirit of a demon inside him, I've never seen anything like it, he may just be a ray of hope for the world."

"Yes, however you still can't help him so much milady."

"I know, I know, do too much and they depend on you, do too little and they lose faith, got it. Don't be such a prude Kurenai-san." She said leaning back into the tub with a pout.

"You created me this way." She retorted with a smile, "I was born to uphold law and order milady."

"Maybe I should have given you a laid back personality; I would have if I knew you'd even apply your diligence to me." Hinata lifted her hand and stared on into the distant sky. "How will you deal with the shadows moving ever closer to you Naruto-kun?"

With a smile the beautiful goddess thumbed a single drop of water from the tub and rain fell onto the world below. Naruto sneezed, sweeping his eyes in all directions as if checking for someone to be speaking of him. "Hanabi-hime, you said that we'd have plans for today, but what is it you plan on doing on such a dreary day?"

"Escaping from my duties for a while." She said running out into the rain barefooted, escaping into the forest far behind the castle as Naruto gave chase.

"We can't do this, I might get fired you know?" He said frantically pushing through the brush.

"No one can fire you, now come on and stop being such a baby." Hanabi stopped for a second, crossing her hands over her chest, which Naruto noted had developed quite well over the passing years. The thought however slowed Naruto's steps, Hanabi was a noble, and no doubt she was already engaged to someone of her standing, the gap between them was as wide as the sand country's mighty canyon, "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's face shot up, eyeing the girl who now had worry etched in her silent gaze. Forcing a smile Naruto ran closer to her and heaved a sigh, "What am I going to do with you?"

"That's my line. What did you stop for anyway?" She asked, placing a single hand on his icy cold face, covered by his dripping wet blonde hair.

"No reason, but since you're in the mood to ask questions what actually are we running from today?" He asked calmly turning his head into a tilt, submitting to his princess' whim. It wasn't the first time they had run from the castle on Hanabi's impulses, but never out into the rain, that was new. Hanabi's face aimed to the ground and she said quietly.

"I was supposed to meet my betrothed." Bingo. Naruto had assumed something like that had to be the case, Naruto had never been foolish enough to believe he had a chance, but it was the first time he'd ever felt so defeated, "I don't like him. Father doesn't either, but apparently it was something my grandfather decided long ago. We're basically enemy countries, but our marriage is supposed to "unify the land." But I don't want to do it. I want to marry y-…Someone I choose."

Hanabi had quickly corrected herself, but Naruto's face burned fiery red at that 'y-' he wanted her to finish, but the sound of the people calling for Hanabi caught his ear, and in a fury he grabbed her hand and ran with all the strength he could muster, soon managing to lose the search teams by hiding in a hallowed stomp, not exactly the best place to hide a princess, but it was enough for now.

"Naruto-kun, why do you keep training, even though I tell you not to?" She asked, leaning into Naruto to warm her cold body.

"So, that I can protect the thing I hold precious, no matter what stands in my way, so that I never have to lose it."

"Oh." She said silently pushing closer into Naruto embrace. "If I asked you to take me and run away, from this, from everything, would you?"

"Just tell me when." He said holding tighter onto the girl in his arms, doing little to stop his beating heart. Naruto pulled closer until their faces were mere inches from each other, of course trying to kiss a princess was something no one with a brain should ever try unless they'd had a death wish, but Naruto couldn't bring himself to stop and Hanabi made no effort to stop him either, in fact she seemed to be all for it from where he was sitting, and without thinking much about the situation further than that they moved closer. A thunderous boom erupted from right outside and a powerful flash of light completely engulfed the area stunning both children before their meeting could reach its peek. Frozen in shock they stared at each other, completely stiff in fear of the lightning bolt that had landed right outside of the hallowed tree trunk.

"Now whatever could have done that?" Hinata said, turning bashfully away from the area displaying the world below with a gleeful and childish look on her face.

"Please don't make such an innocent face when you do something so scary." Kurenai said shaking her head at her master. Kurenai turned her sight to the world below mood completely ruined by the stray bolt and in a protective stint Naruto leapt from the tree with Hanabi hand, determined to return her to the castle before something else happened.

Blazing hot sand blew over the land as a lone silhouette moved through the clearing, not too long ago it had been a beautiful field here, looming above it was a gorgeous and well kept castle that now stood upon land far too scorched to call a field as a castle far too dilapidated to be called "gorgeous". It was this castle, a keep of the lone surviving dragon that a single woman approached, drinking down her lost drips of water she stared up at the keep, "So this is the dragon's keep?"

She questioned, tying up her long brown hair into a high ponytail as she walked into the doors of the castle hanging wide open as if the master dared an intruder to enter. As she surveyed the castle's walls she could hear the growls of a creature inside stirring in obvious displeasure at her company.

"Who dares enter my home, I thought I made it clear that humans were not to wonder these halls." Came an ominous and commanding voice, resounding through the castle's hallowed walls.

"My name is Claire Redfeild, I'm a doctor and something of a scientist, I wish to speak with you." She replied dropping her bag to the floor as if she expected him to concede to her will.

"What makes you believe that I'd lower myself to speak to you human?" He asked in a mighty growl that shook the entire castle; however Claire stood completely unfazed by his words.

"I brought food." She said lifting the heavy bag onto her shoulder and as she had planned there was a long pause between his words.

"...What kind of food?" He asked in a slightly less violent voice than before.

"What kind of food do you like, I brought plenty of different kinds, you'll have come down and see, or you could kick me out, but I hear that you don't leave this castle much, so hunting must be pretty hard for you. Maybe I'll just go and-" Before she could her sentence the bag was snatched from her hand with enough speed to force a gust of wind around her. Leisurely she looked back at the monster who looked to be nothing more than fifteen year old boy, "Well it appears what they say is true."

Fou-lu turned up to the woman, snacking on the various items in her bag as she leaned down towards him, "What are you doing here woman? What is your true purpose in being in here really?" He asked in between large bites.

"I came here to study you, ever since the inquisition of your species there has been things we've heard about dragons that completely contradicts our previous beliefs, such as you being able to speak." She said moving closer to the boy who seemed to care little for her approach.

"Not speaking and not being able to speak are two different things. And what do you mean study me, why should I allow such a thing, and I'm not sure I like your attitude woman." He said threateningly, still scarfing down the food given to him, or rather the food he'd taken. Chuckling at his appearance the woman sat closer, as if to gauge his reaction to her, but instead of striking he just looked at her curiously.

"You're not so mean are you?" She asked patting his head, bringing a stern frown to his face. "You're so cute too, do you mind if I stay?"

Fou-lu frowned and sighed looking down into the bag that now laid empty, "As long as you agree to bring back more food, and never go into my room, ever. Is that clear?" He asked standing tall, stalking into the hallway he had emerged from.

"That was easier than I thought, don't you hate humans young dragon?"

"...I don't feel hatred anymore. I can't." He said sullenly before finishing his trek into the quiet halls of the castle. Claire sighed, she had found a place to hide out, and while being in the company of a dragon there was no way her pursuers would ever follow her. Gazing at the stairwell the boy had disappeared into she gazed at her bag and grimace.

"He could have at least saved some for me." Claire's arm loosely released tension and she dropped the bag, she'd have to go shopping again soon.

Fou-lu leaned against the wall of his castle, waiting patiently for Claire to return as she had promised, it had been months since she had come to live with him, and as much as he opposed it, he was used to her being around. The sound of crunching sand alerted him to her return as he struggled to contain his glee, and from where she was standing, he wasn't struggling hard. "Did you get them?" He asked, practically bouncing around waiting for her to answer and with a sigh she reached into her bag and removed three video cassette tapes.

"Yeah, two old Maito Gai movies and the new Rock Lee movie." In a flash the tapes had been removed from her hands, and she sighed to herself. She had only brought those things along in case she got bored and he didn't try to keep her company, but to her surprise as she watched some of the movies he joined in, growing really interested in martial arts movies.

"Oh man, "Enter the Youthful dragon" I've been waiting for this one to come out forever."

"How can you be so in to that stuff?"

"I don't know, something about the way they fight is beautiful, the dance like motion of martial arts is art, not like all that gun filled crap they make now."

"And you've only been watching movies for about four months, now you're critic. Norugi, you need to get out more, see the world." She said brushing passed him as he stared in displeasure.

"How many times do I have to tell you, my name is Fou-lu." He practically shouted to the woman as she passed.

"You have a human's body, so it'd be easier for you to fit into human society if you have a normal name. I brought some food too, we can eat while we watch okay?" She said walking up the stairs as the boy slowly followed behind her. As she walked she passed his room, inside she could feel an immense power, it was almost intoxicating, she couldn't think when near it, but she never once felt compelled to go inside.

"I'll tell you about it some day." He said, suddenly standing behind Claire who turned sharply to face him, "Come on, we have a movie to watch."

"Yeah, yeah." Claire turned, giving a passing glance to the door once again before walking after the boy. When she'd first met him he never stopped eating, but now he was watching the movie, perfectly imitating all of the moves he saw on screen while his food grew cold. Claire wrote into her book, dragons weren't that much different from humans in their personalities, and aside from being over a hundred years older than her Norugi, as she called him, was a normal teenaged boy.

"Norugi, would you like to come into town with me tomorrow?"

"No, I can't leave this keep. I have something here I must protect, so I can't go." He strongly replied, not even once turning to her as he spoke.

"Is that something valuable? I might steal it from you."

"My eyes can see the auras of all living things, everyone has a different aura, yours is honest, I don't doubt that you might try, but I do doubt that you'd go through with it." He said in between practicing a high kick, which made Claire chuckle.

"One day, you'll venture out into the world it may be soon, so I'll teach you everything you need to know okay." She said spreading out a map on the table and a few books Fou had never seen before. Sighing he turned off the T.V. and walked to the table, resuming his meal as he listened to Claire's words.

(Naruto: age 16)

Naruto stared into the sky, dazed as he remembered what had happened so long ago, Hanabi had barely said a word after returning, but every time they saw each other now there was a strange sense of attraction, Naruto should have been focusing on what he was doing, because if he had, he'd have noticed that there was a large wooden sword headed for his face. Snapping back from his thoughts Naruto ducked under the practice sword and clutched tightly onto his slamming it up into the stomach of the knight sparring with him. It wasn't at all odd that he was being heckled by the knights, even more so since he was stronger than all of them, but even after so many years of flawless service and the complete trust of not only the King and princess, but their very own knight captain and court magician, there was lots of pent up aggression towards Naruto. It was the first time that month that Naruto had to face off against the entire knight squadron, but it was a fight he wouldn't shy from. Placing his sword into the dirt he released the hilt and gestured for the others waiting to move in and take their turn at him, and much to his pleasure, they had. Each moved in, swinging wildly at Naruto who skillfully deflected one of the blades and feed his fist into the stomach of the knight on the alternate side of him. Naruto reached down, grabbing he leg of the swordsman to his front and in one twist had hurled him to the ground, at the same time sending himself spinning, slamming his heel into the shoulder of another approaching knight.

Naruto chuckled, smacking the face of the grounded man to see if he'd move, but the shadow eclipsing his had an advantage over him, or so he thought. Naruto lift his right leg, crashing it upward into the knight's chin, and in a show of grace he swing his sword into his side sending him spinning to the ground in a heap.

"So who's next?" He called out, aiming his sword at the entire crowd of people who seemed to lose interest after watching their friends drop.

"Monster." One muttered helping his fellow knights up as they left for the training area abandoning Naruto who scuffed at his words. Naruto had long ago stopped caring about the demon being inside him, hell he'd on many occasions had long conversations with it, even some of his moves had been learned from the demon's arsenal. He and the fox were one, there was no getting around that. Her pain was his pain, and his was hers, as well as revenge. At some point Naruto wanted to find the man who had caused the downward spiral in his life and end him, that would be a day to remember.

"Naruto-kun!" However, the girl who had called his name, the one running to him as if returning to a lover unseen for years. She was always first, the person who gave his broken life meaning.

"Is something wrong Hanabi-hime?" He asked catching the girl as she threw herself in his arms.

"T-The kingdom of flowers has fallen." Naruto froze, there were many kingdoms that governed the world, and the kingdom of flowers was a tiny nation that had lived in peace with all other nations around it. There was no reason at all to attack a kingdom that had not even a military branch.

"Who did it, do we know what happened to the royal family?"

"Presumed dead." Kakashi said walking into the clearing behind Hanabi, Rin following close behind.

"Wasn't Neji training there as a monk, what happened to him?" Naruto asked in a flustered voice to Kakashi, yet he didn't answer and Rin's lowered gaze was enough to confirm what he had feared. "He's dead isn't he?"

"We don't know, we haven't heard word from there since this morning." Kakashi said, making Hanabi sob in Naruto's arms as he cursed, "We're thinking of sending a search party, we wanted to know if you'd come along."

"I can't." He said looking down to Hanabi who gazed up into his eyes.

"Naruto-kun, please, Neji-niisan is-" Naruto placed a finger to her lips and smiled.

"All you need do is ask. I'll go, but please leave someone capable in charge of Hanabi-hime." Kakashi nodded and turned to Rin smiled over to Naruto.

"We'll be back as soon as we can, so don't worry Hanabi-hime." She said bowing to the princess who watched Naruto as he went to face the king and then depart on a journey to the kingdom of flowers.

"You want more, because I'll keep kicking your asses until nightfall." Fou-lu shouted, forcing the horde of knights into a scurry as they departed into the moonlight. Once gone he dropped to his knees breathing heavily as he leaned back against the outer walls of his castle, "Dammit, if I hadn't placed that seal I'd have handled them no problem."

It had nearly been a year since Claire had left, telling him of her adventures around the world and her wishes for him to accompany her, he had refused, but inwardly he wanted to leave with her, but something inside his keep needed him, here was no way he was going to leave it. And seven months of loneliness later he was greeted by the swords of leaf kingdom knights. Well he wasn't lonely anymore, and they had given him a training dummy for his new moves he never got to try out, but now they were coming in droves, even with his strength driving them off had become a chore and he needed it to end, now.

"You seem to be in trouble, may I lend an ear?" Came a voice from the side, a pale lanky man who wore the robes of a sorcerer, he reeked of deceit, but Fou-lu's eyes could see no aura, an impossibility. Only inanimate objects held no aura, the only way a person could be without an aura is if they were dead, and even after dying the aura would flicker before vanishing. "I may be able to be of assistance."

"I need no help from you sorcerer. Leave me before I decide to feast on you." Fou-lu spoke proudly, he had just gone through a very stressful day and he had no need of this man's "help".

"If you want them to stop, maybe you should show them what it's like to be on the receiving end." The man spoke, wearing a sinister smile on is face, "If you were to show them the feeling, they will retreat for good, however, if you allow them to walk away every time, eventually, they'll wear you down."

Fou-lu knew that he shouldn't have listened, but after the countless battles he had fought in the last five months were indeed starting to wear on him. A creepy smile crossed the lips of the pale man at Fou-lu's silence, it meant that he was getting through to him and unfortunately, he was starting to make a lot of sense. Moving closer, gaining the young dragon's interest, he whispered words into his ear, a plan to secure his keep and the treasure that lay inside safe.

By the time the envoy of knights had reached the kingdom of flowers it was all too evident that there was nothing that could be done. Naruto peeked up a small piece of rubble and tossed it aside, but the smell of death was heavy, almost mind numbingly so.

"Who could have done such a thing?" He asked, turning back to Kakashi who seemed to be disgusted by the display of carnage in front of him.

"Whoever it was must have been trying to send a message." He said walking amongst the debris, but no matter how much they looked there were two bodies that never turned up, Ishi's, the princess of the kingdom and Neji the cousin of Konoha's princess. Neji had been the son of Hiashi's twin brother, and close relative of Hanabi until his father went to the kingdom of flowers as an ambassador. It was there that Neji began his training as a monk, however strongly refused to shave his head. So deep in the kingdom was he that like Naruto he had been assigned with the coveted task of guarding the kingdom's princess, it was the only reason Naruto even knew the guy. Even so, his was a face Naruto would never forget, he sighed in relief that none of the bodies shared Neji's or Ishi's features. Kakashi sighed walking away to join the knight troupe he had brought with him in the town square, leaving Naruto and Rin in the castle's remains.

"Do you think they escaped?" Naruto pondered, crouching down to appraise the marks on the ground.

"It's possible, or at least I'd hope that their enemy didn't take their bodies." Rin replied staring into the distance from over the cliff beside them, "There used to be the most beautiful field of flowers here." With sadness in her eyes she stared, oblivious to the creature emerging from the ground behind her. As it prepared to rip through her with it's claws she frowned, peeking back to Naruto, holding his Rasengan to the beast's head.

"And what exactly were you planning to do?" He asked pulling back on the trigger as Rin rolled away from the blast the size of a globe, ripping and whistling through the air as it tore through the creature. Naruto slammed the fun back in it's hilt and ripped free his sword as the creature's green and hunched leapt from the symbols in the ground with angry snarls.

"Naruto, do you think you can keep them off of me for a second?"

"No, problem Rin-sensei." He said with a smile as Rin ripped free her staff holding it in front of her as she began her chant. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, she was going for the big one. With a smile, Naruto rushed into the crowd stabbing straight into the heart of a waiting imp and then ripped to the side, rolling into a slash down into the head of another, yet even with two down, the creatures continued to emerge from the holes, and from the large one in the middle emerged largest ogre Naruto had ever seen, not that he'd seen one before, but he was pretty sure that they didn't come that big.

"Um, I think we have a problem now."

"I can see it Naruto, but my spell doesn't have enough power yet, please hold on a little longer."

"Damnit, where is Kakashi-sensei when you need him!" He shouted out, only then noticing the sound of combat coming from outside. Naruto gazed back, some of the imps were gaining in on Rin, and with her spell casting she couldn't very well dodge them. He had to focus on using one of the gifts the fox had given him. A spell lost from ancient times, well, one that was lost until Kakashi somehow figured out how to use it, man Naruto hated that guy sometimes. Returning to his focus, that he'd momentarily lost he closed his eyes and when he reopened the he was surrounded by multiple versions of himself all wearing the same expression and then a shared smile. The four clones of Naruto spread off in separate directions and engaged the imps spread out in the room, while the main body faced the forty foot behemoth in front of him. Holding his sword up, he prepared for the beast to strike, and once it did, it's giant fist flew down for Naruto, who dived out of the way just in time to dodge, leaving the monster's fist the collide with them ground, causing a tremor that shook the fallen structure.

"Naruto control that thing!" Rin shouted out, still readying her magic to release.

"Easy for you to say!" He bit back narrowly avoiding it's hand as it grabbed for him. Naruto slashed upward along the hand, but to no avail, the blade barely even made a scratch. Growling the ogre swung back, slamming into Naruto's face, breaking his sword shortly before. As he rolled back, Naruto recovered, stumbling shortly after to one knee, supported by only his broken sword, "Damned piece of junk!" He shouted tossing the shattered blade to the side. The thundering sound of crunching earth caught Naruto's ear and as he glared forth the ogre quickly closed the distance between them and as he fist came down, it was brought to a sudden halt. Naruto held tightly on the ogre mighty fist with a single hand, and with one thrust he sent it sliding back.

"You shouldn't fuck with me." He whispered, making a strange orange glow engulf his body. Naruto walked forward, materializing two swords from thin air in each palm. As the giant tried to collect itself Naruto charged forward, slamming his swords into it's shins and then with a violent growl he ripped to the side. The beast fell to one knee in agony, punching ruthlessly at Naruto who nimbly dodged each strike and countered by slashing through the beast's arm, sending tendons and bone flying through the air. Bracing for the sprint, Naruto ran under the beast's legs and stabbed into it's other knee, then climbed his way up it's back using the blades in hand until he reached it's shoulders. Naruto clenched tightly onto the hilts of his sword and while holding them unhanded, he stabbed into it's neck with reckless force, repeatedly until it screamed in pain. Watching the beast flail was enough to let Naruto know that it wasn't going to put up much of a fight after, but he knew that there was no way he could tae that chance. All the ogre could do was reach for Naruto in a failing attempt to grab him, but Naruto's quick maneuverings constantly placed him out of reach, and with a quick slash he severed the hand of the giant, once again making it scream out in pain.

"Furious flame, come down as a great blight upon my foes; Calamity!" Rin shouted, forming a giant orb of flame that descended down from the opening in the destroyed castle incinerating everything within a ten foot radius of it. Naruto sweated and grabbed onto the top of the ogre's head and pulled it down, shielding himself from the massive blast as it overtook everything around him. After all had been incinerated Naruto rolled from the charred remains of the giant and coughed up the soot he had inhaled during the roasting process.

"What the hell Rin-sensei" He screamed in protest gaining a tender chuckle from the woman.

"I had faith that you'd get out of it."

"Well I guess I did get out of it, but man that was one hell of a spell." He said gazing at the destruction around him. "How did you learn that attack?"

"Years of practice, I could teach you this one if you want."

"No thanks, I barely even learn how to use the spells Yubiki knows. And with Icarus still placed on the Rasengan I still can't modify it. Are you sure you can't remove it?"

"Nope, that seal was placed by a sage. I don't think you should remove that one though, Rasengan gains more power when it drains more mana, that the drain of mana can be, 'relieving' sometimes. It's best not to take that chance or you may just drain yourself to death.

"By relieving you mean"

"Orgasmic"

"Got it. Onto a less awkward subject, what do you think these things were doing here?"

"I believe this thing answer that question." Kakashi said appearing in the door way with his clothes torn, an obvious sign of battle. Dragging behind him was the corpse of a small brown creature with massive fangs.

"What is that?" Naruto questioned, walking closer to his mentor.

"It's a Khnive, or as most call them, a snitch. These things are used to spy on report back to their masters like loyal dogs. I'm guessing it was used to scope out areas in the castle to place these magical summoning runes. I'm guessing somebody on the inside placed the runes."

"It'd need to be someone who could get around the castle without raising suspicion." Rin said holding her hand to her chin.

"Do you think there's anyone like that at our castle?" Naruto asked with a tinge of worry.

"I'd hope not, there was one long ago, let's just hope that he's dead by now."

"Was he a pale magician with golden eyes?"

"How would you know something like that?" Kakashi asked somewhat started by Naruto inquiry. Clutching tightly to his stomach Naruto let out a low growl.

"Let's get back to Konoha, I suddenly don't feel so well." He said, not only because of the smell of death and carnage soaring through the air in the remains of the kingdom in which they stood, but because the man had been the one Yubiki had been seeking on that day, he'd proudly displayed the symbol of the royal court when she'd seen him. The thought brought out a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, his instincts, sharpened by the fox's presence, were telling him to go home.

"Alright, I'll tell my men to gather what survivors we found and head for home." More relieving words had never been spoken to Naruto before, giving a small sigh he walked toward the exit of the fallen castle and hoped that his fears were not met with substance.

Alas, fate is seldom ever that kind, for at only a day after Naruto's encounter in the flower kingdom's castle a lone figure stood at the gates of the castle of Konoha.

"You can't be here, leave at once." Shouted a knight pointing at the cloaked stranger with the spear he held ready to strike, but before he could even finish his threat the figure moved to his side, holding the tip's of his fingers to the knight's armor and in single thrust he swung his palm down, in a single show of force, managing to push the man into the doors, forcing them to swing open on impact. Flashing his jagged teeth the figure charged through the castle like a ghost staying low to the ground as weaved through guards with very little effort. As one of the knights thrust his spear at the figure, it clung to his cloak removing it to reveal his light brown skin and dark brown hair, but his most defining feature was his eyes flashing golden in short intervals, this person wasn't human. Fou sidestepped the spear and latched his arms around them from behind and then spun, smacking the same guard with the butt of the spear, twisting it into a spin he jammed it into the ground and snapped off the blade bringing up the wooden end of the spear now turned staff into the chin of another knight, smiling at the attempts they made to stop him. Leaning to the side he sent his foot into the stomach of an approaching knight and swung back the staff into the neck of another.

"Heh, I've been training for years to master these moves." Fou tossed the staff in front of him and kicked it into the face of one unfortunate knight and grabbed it as it rebounded to him, spinning it in a circle to knock away the remaining pursuers. With a chuckle he continued running into the castle's wall, weaving through the guards like a snake until he reached the corridor that held the strange aura, well one of them anyway, but this one was no doubt his target. Stepping toward the knight stationed in front of the door he held the staff at his side, crouching low as he gestured from them to come closer. Angered by his arrogance the lead knight charged forward with sword drawn back, but Fou's foot stepped firmly on his, sending him falling toward the ground and had the staff not been swung into the back of his head that wouldn't have been a problem. Smiling Fou whirled around to the next contestant and with the sound of cutting air he slammed his staff into the man's stomach, knocking him back into the wall and leveling him with a quick spin kick. Fou quickly switched his staff to his free arm and slammed his elbow into the armor of an approaching knight, breaking through his armor in one blow. As the knight's breath hitched in his throat Fou slammed the back of his hand into his face and slammed the staff into his back, leaving him unable to pursue.

"Is this the best your kingdom can offer?" He asked, not thinking of the unfair advantage that dragon strength had given him, but that was until the people began to swarm him, moving into position to strike, and with a strong exhale Fou's eyes flashed golden, forming into slits as an intense air engulfed him. Mere seconds later the knights had been staring into the face of a 20 foot dragon that seemed to smile as he walked forward looming over them with fire filled breaths. Hanabi stood close to her door, taking slow steps back as the knights behind it were beaten to a pulp, and soon the sounds stopped and for a second there was calm, and then her door flew open, the massive dragon, barely visible through the doorframe stood before her leaning and straining to fit inside. After entering the door Fou walked closer to the girl, slowly reverting back to his human guise, but knowing what he was, even in the human form Hanabi was given no calm by his appearance.

"Sorry little firework, but you're coming with me." He said extending his hand to the terrified girl and she froze.

"Hanabi!" Screamed Hiashi as he and select knights appeared in front of the door preparing to go in, being greet by the flames emerging from Fou's mouth threatening to burn them to crisps. Without thinking for a second Hanabi rushed for the door and Fou thought for a second that her self-preservation instinct had set in, but selflessly she slammed the door and locked it tight slowly turning back to Fou, a smart move. If she had tried to run, he'd have pursued her and then more of her people would have been hurt, as princess she couldn't allow that. Fou once again held his hand to her ignoring the frantic beating on the door, fools trying to force open the door despite there being a dragon behind it, not even one of them stood a chance against Fou, and they knew it as well as he did. Hanabi walked closer and placed her hand in his and as the door flew open Hiashi could do little but stare as the dragon held his daughter closed and backed away for the terrace.

"If you want your daughter back, remove your knights from my land!" He shouted with authority as he massive wings spread and mere moments later he was airborne. Hiashi shouted in horror as the monster made off with the kingdom's princess, but at that point there was little they could do even if they could shoot him down Hanabi would surely die on impact from that height and the dragon's wings propelled him to fast to be followed, all he could do, was feel the pain of his own helplessness. At that moment the knights dispatched to the destroyed kingdom was right below the retreating dragon king and something had caught Naruto nose, sniffing the air he could smell something far away, another sense heightened by his merging with the fox. In startling revelation he looked up to the sky catching sight of the flying creature up above and what it was carrying.

"Hanabi-hime!" He screamed to the top of his lung putting all of the knight following him on alert also noticing the flying blip above. Fou turned down readying his flaming breath for the knights below, but Hanabi hand grabbed his.

"Please don't." She begged with pleading eyes and shaky hands that showed her fear. Scoffing Fou returned to his escape as Naruto boiled below with unexplainable rage.

"It was that moment that started everything, I can only remember the pain I felt as I watched Hanabi-hime be taken away, the fear that I may not see her again, the guilt that I had let it happen in my absence and the looming sense I felt that the thing that took her, may be something I couldn't defeat. That was the beginning of everything, and the end of my peaceful castle life."


End file.
